Wednesday, December 31, 2008

that's how I feel after seriously cleaning up/cleaning out my scrap space. I share a space in the laundry which consists of a double pantry cupboard and a kitchen buffet. To say I am a hoarder is a total understatement, but to day I purged. What started as a little tidy up became a major overhaul of my stash and how it's stored.

I threw out 3 bags of junk, alot of packaging in that, and decided to let go of items that I have had for a while (at least a couple of years) and either hadn't used or had used minimally and basically know I won't used them again. Got my act together last tonight and they are all listed here. So hopefully someone likes them and gets themself a bargain.

In other news we went back to my brothers last night for a get together with my sister and her family, who are home for the first time in 18 months (they are living in QLD), which I so totally don't get!! Just can't imagine not being home for Christmas Day. This adorable girl is my gorgeous niece, who sadly, I have come to the conclusion, I will never really know......and this is her again with my newest third cousin "Klay". He's just 11 days old..........have a great day and sensational New Year.

How quickly it goes ~ Christmas that is! Months of planning and anticipation, then in 12 hours it's all over. We had a lovely day which unexpectedly started at 5.45am. Riley usually has to be woken, even on Xmas morning, but not this year. He was thrilled with his gifts: an ipod and docking station from us, Powerwing, Lego, Hot Wheels set and cars, Remote control bug, DVDS, socks, choccies etc from Santa plus all the bits and pieces from the family.We returned to normal programing this year with Grandma & Grandad, my brother and his family and Riley's dad all gathering at our house for the gifts in the morning. We then went to Riley's dads' house to see what Santa left there as well.

A few hours break to assemble the pavlova and potato salad ~ my lunch contributions, and then it was off to my cousin Kristys house for a huge Christmas lunch which includes extended family from both sides. Home for a sleep and then off to my brothers house for Christmas tea and a few wimes (they live close enough to walk home!!).

Riley had the best day, with what seemed like a never ending supply of gifts, and cousins to play with. All in all a good day for everyone. Hope you all had a great day!!

Really feeling in the holiday mood now, so going to settle in and enjoy!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

These arrived today ~ I didn't expect to get them until after Christmas, so I was very happy!!

I have been following Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas, and whilst i don't intend making the actual tags, I am planning to incorporate his techniques into my Christmas layouts.

I found all the Tim Holtz products online, including the new release Christmas stamps, at Kazmos Kreations. I can not recommend this shop highly enough ~ excellent prices, great communication, fabulous service and lightning fast despatch ~ 2 days from Victoria to country NSW ~ very, very happy with that. I am definitely determined to get lots of snaps tonight and tomorrow.

Been spending my day preparing for tomorrow ~ the pavlova is in the oven, an antipasto plate ready for tonight and after I get off here the final wrapping. Riley is with his Dad today, but he was here for a while yesterday while his Dad attended a work function, and he was like 'a cat on a hot tin roof'. He couldn't settlr to play with anything, he is so excited about Christmas. Thankfully I had some wrapping that he could help with, so that kept him busy for a while.

Tonight we are visiting with my closest friends, the Gills ~ nibbles, celebratory drinks, gifts and then off to look at some lights, then home to await the arrival of the jolly man in the red suit. That should keep Riley entertained!!Okay, off to wrap the last of the gifts.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Finally finished my November layouts for Let's Scrap, but forgot to upload. Absolutely loved these papers ~ so much so that I am going to purchase some to complete a couple more layouts with photos from the wedding featured in the Loving Life layout. I have scrapped this photo of Kezia before for my sister, but decided that I wanted a layout for myself as well.Another casualty of my poor health has been my Journal Your Xmas. Unfortunately, I just haven't been able to get it started, so have decided to give it a miss this year, but am determined to do it again next year.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

for another year ~ the working year that is. Our Christmas break started on Friday and boy am I in need of this break. Healthwise, this is the worst year I can remember (nothing serious, but seemingly never ending illness) and I have finished the working year completely exhausted ~ this job definitely isn't getting easier the longer I do it!! I finally feel human again, and have answers regarding my health. It seems the constant infections I have been battling are thanks to my wisdom teeth that decided to make an appearance about eight months go and have been regularly going up and down! Have to 'bite the bullet' and have them removed next year, but when is the magic question ~ I am teaching two Year 12 classes next year and am escorting an excursion to Vietnam, so it looks like they will have to wait until fourth term.

On the scrapping front, I have completed my latest Love Scrappin' layouts. I couldn't believe how perfect these papers were for this photo of Kezia that I have been wanting to scrapand then there are these three gorgeous girls: my neices

I have some good news, but can't tell just yet, so check back in a couple of days.

Monday, December 1, 2008

my absolutely most favourite time of the year. Yesterday we turned our house into the "Christmas Cave" ~ a little later than usual due to my being crook. Up went the tree and out came the santas. Riley was so excited, he is as crazy about Christmas as I am and just loves all the decorations. This year he took charge of the placement and pretty much remembered where things went. To top off a very Christmassy day we watched The Polar Express which epitomises the true spirit of Christmas, something I want Riley to hold onto for as long as possible. A few pictures of our decorations:And in keeping with the Christmas spirit I have joined in with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas again this year.This is a fabulous way to document Christmas. I didn't finish last year, but have all the photos and journaling for the days I missed, so am planning on working on these projects concurrently. Each day between Dec 1st and Jan 6th (the 12th day of Christmas) Shimelle provides a prompt for the day to generate thoughts and photos of the season. This year I am working on a smaller format album (maximum page size 6"x6")with a variety of different page materials in a range of sizes. The album that I am using as the base for my Journal is a Karen Day Designs MiniMy Mixed Textile Media album produced by Scrapware and available from Scrapboxx.Cheers..................Leanne